Travel To St. Croix (STX)

Ah! Vacation! Better yet, vacation in St. Croix. The picture above is the villa that I like to call "Our Villa". But, alas, it was only our's for nine fabulous days. 

Instead of doing the usual researching of hotels, we decided to check out renting a villa. We invited our best friends and their daughter, who also happens to be our God daughter. We also took along one of our sons best friends, as their high school graduation present, and our youngest son. 

The villa was gorgeous, inside and out. We had a beautiful kitchen, complete with everything you need to cook. Except the food, but going to the local grocery store was a trip all in itself. The villa was only yards away from the ocean. To me, it was paradise. Word of warning though, get the best, strongest sunglasses you can find. Get a few pairs, in case you loose some.

I got to make sand castles on the beach with Megan. We played in the waves, but not as much as I wanted to because there was a lot of sharp coral in the water. 

My youngest son, Dylan was absolutely in love with the place. He has always had a thing for the ocean and everything about it. He loved exploring. We also had a small pool overlooking the ocean, in case someone didn't like salt water, or coral reefs. 

There were even outside speakers so we could listen to our favorite music. It was so much fun, a trip we will never forget. I loved the isolation and not being in a hotel. I know, hotels can be great, I mean, who doesn't like room service? But I did a lot of traveling for business in my career, so I was a bit tired of hotels.

St. Croix also has rain forests that are so awesome. I would say cool, but it was pretty humid. :) Long vines hanging over the roads and on the beaches. Different looking birds and other species of animals.

One side of the island has the town of Christiansted and the town of  Frederiksted on the other side. From what we found, Christiansted was the most populated and had the most shops and restaurant/bars. There is so much history about this place that I don't dare try to put it all in one hub, but it's so much fun to explore and learn about for yourself.

The shopping was a blast, the restaurants were really good, just walking around and looking at everything was fun. The people are really nice and informative. We met so many Americans that had gone there for a trip - and just stayed. I can't imagine that, but it was cool to meet people that could do it.

We also took a cruise to Buck Island. Buck Island Reef is the only United States National Monument that is underwater. It has a white sandy beach, picnic tables and barbecue pits. The reef has two major underwater trails -- Turtle Bay Trail and East End Trail. Numerous boats operate off the dock in Christiansted to take you over there. 

The catamaran that took us over, anchored in pretty deep water, gave us all snorkel gear and told us to jump in. I wasn't used to snorkeling this way. Before when I went snorkeling, we just got on our gear and walked into the ocean. Jumping in is a whole other story. Being that it was an underwater National Monument, I was pretty sure they were going to fine me for swallowing so much of the precious, awfully salty sea water. When I jumped off the boat, into the water, I went down, down deep. And somehow, my snorkeling gear beat me back up to the top. 

I was stunned and felt pretty dumb, especially when I saw my husband, Kenny laughing so hard. It was everything I could do not to throw up - forever. It took a while to get myself and my gear back together, but once I did, and actually did get to swim, it was the most beautiful experience ever. So many different color and sizes of fish. So many different kinds and colors of coral and reefs. Just a whole other world. 

To sum up St. Croix; it is absolutely beautiful. It's wild and felt almost lawless. However, it's not a big party place if you don't bring your own friends along. When we went, in June, there were no crowded beaches, the clubs weren't very crowded. No girls in bikini's for the 18 year olds to hit on or gawk at. From what I hear, if that is what you want, St. Thomas is the place to go. But for that summer, for our group, it was perfect.

Oh, and I can't forget to tell you, you get to drive on the wrong side of the road. What a trip, man!

All the Best & Drive Safely,

KT Banks